[Vision2020] Idaho State Legislator Pay

[Sue Hovey]

It was a sound bite. And of course rehiring decisions really should reflect issues of competence, and they already did before the new laws.  Now if a board chooses not to rehire a teacher all the members have to do is allow the teacher a meeting and state the reason for not rehiring.  There are no guidelines, no due process for teachers, its whatever the board decides is a reason.  In the instance of a rif, the board may Not  use seniority as one criterion.  So if they have two great third grade teachers--one with fifteen years and one with three, and the district is in a severe economic crunch, it makes economic sense to fire the long term teacher, who is making more money.  

Merit pay is something else again. And it was funded by taking money from All teachers to raise the pay of some.  

And yes, I agree, elections do serve as a form of merit pay. There is an analogy here, too.  Just as merit pay will not necessarily flow to the best teachers, elections don't necessarily select the best legislators, either.  

Sent from my iPad Sue Hovey

On Oct 21, 2012, at 11:31 PM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> I wasn't arguing any particular side, just wanting to correct your inflation of their pay amounts.  But, what the heck.
> 
> The quip about making politician's pay be merit-based is a cute sound-bite, but that's about all it is.  What is more merit-based than having to be re-elected by popular vote every few years?  If they are not doing well enough, they are out of a job.
> 
> Is it so evil to want teachers to be rehired based solely upon how well they are teaching their kids and not because they've been there forever and no one can get rid of them?  I can think of some problems with this approach, namely how do we determine how well they are doing and do we really want teachers more concerned every year with getting rehired than with teaching their classes, but on the whole the idea seems to make sense.  Is there more to this proposition than is apparent here?
> 
> Paul
> 
> Btw, I deleted the obligatory list of extra contacts from the CC lines.  Maybe they should join the list?
> 
> On 10/21/2012 08:41 PM, Tom Hansen wrote:
>> Paul Rumelhart suggests:
>> 
>> "The job of a state legislator encompasses more than just those 80 days.  I'll bet they put in a lot of time outside that window, especially if they are trying to get some legislation developed.  I'm sure it varies from person to person."
>> 
>> And the difference between a state legislator and a public school teacher is . . .?
>> 
>> Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .
>> 
>> "Moscow Cares"
>> http://www.MoscowCares.com
>>   Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>> 
>> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students.  The college students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
>> 
>> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
>> 
>> 
>>  
>> On Oct 21, 2012, at 8:30 PM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> The job of a state legislator encompasses more than just those 80 days.  I'll bet they put in a lot of time outside that window, especially if they are trying to get some legislation developed.  I'm sure it varies from person to person.
> 
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